NHL in Vegas pretty solid bet now
NHL gives green light to exploring expansion and Sin City is main target, but not only one
Well, of course the NHL is betting on Vegas. If Vegas spotted you $500 million (U.S.) and a brand new arena you’d forget your worries too, and you, my friend, would let the good times roll. You might wind up wearing cracked sunglasses and a T-shirt and no pants in the desert, dazed and penniless.
But it would be a hell of a ride to get there.
No, Vegas is the automatic bet right now, whatever cautionary words the National Hockey League employs. They’re going to Vegas, and it will be a fascinating exper- iment, and the team name will be disappointing, whatever it is. I say the Vegas Aces would be a pretty good name, myself. I will accept royalties.
But there could well be an expansion process beyond that, so buckle up. Before the NHL awards on Wednesday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman finally opened the doors, after months of preparation.
There was the Vegas talk that surfaced at the board of governors meetings in Boca Raton in December, when the door was opened a crack. (“This will tell you precisely how far along we are in this process, which isn’t a process,” said Bett- man.) There were Bettman’s comments at the Stanley Cup final, when he previewed this meeting. And now come one, come all. Mount your campaigns, and saddle your horses. If you bring the NHL half a billion dollars and a plan that doesn’t fit on a cocktail napkin, the NHL will deign to look inside your money bags, and take a peek.
“We will probably starting in early July, accept formal applications from entities, people, that are interested in pursuing an expansion team,” said Bettman, managing not to cackle, not once. “We will then go through a formal vetting process, and the board ultimately will determine whether or not there is any interest in expanding.
And if the conclusion is there is interest from the league’s perspective, then there’ll be a focus on what the terms will be, and who the successful or likely successful candidates might be.
“The game and the business of the game and our franchises and the ownership of our franchise has never been stronger, and I suppose all the interest we’ve been getting expressed is a reflection of that.”
Behold, the power of what the sports value bubble can do. Franchise values are skyrocketing across North America. In basketball, the Milwaukee Bucks sold for $550 million last year, and the Atlanta Hawks sold for $730 million a year later (though it was reported at $850 million, Forbes explained it was actually lower.) Those are bad markets, but TV deals alone float every league. Forbes assesses three NHL teams — Toronto, the Rangers, Montreal — at a billion dollars or more. It’s hard to screw this stuff up.
Expansion is where you can, theoretically. And now Vegas is coming, so the question is who else could come with them. Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly were characteristically vague about everything they could: they’re basically going to accept submissions. As Bettman said, “There’s no list, there’s no priority, there’s no determination other than we’ve been listening for a while, let’s take a look. Nobody’s going to be persuaded by marching bands, and I doubt considerably that we would be convinced by jottings on a napkin . . . You don’t do it frivolously.”
That, they have not done. This has been very, very deliberate. The NHL let Bill Foley sell 13,200 season ticket commitments, exceeding expectations, and now the NHL will travel where the NBA wasn’t willing to go. The rest, though: it can’t land until the 2017-18 season, and that will be the mystery.
In Quebec City, Quebecor will sub- mit a bid, which might only be slightly hampered by the fact that the man who still owns Quebecor is currently the leader of the Parti Quebecois, and an explicit and enthusiastic separatist. The party’s in ruins, of course, but the prospect of separation, led by a very rich man who has been described by many former high-ranking employees as . . . well, unpredictable? . . . may not be the most appetizing landing spot, even if league pal Marcel Aubut plays midwife. It would be lucrative, though.
In Seattle, the hockey money there still doesn’t control the arena process, because local billionaire Chris Hansen is still waiting for an NBA team. Maybe later.
“Nobody’s going to be persuaded by marching bands.” GARY BETTMAN ON NHL EXPANSION
And in Toronto, the crew that tried and failed to sucker Markham into an arena deal will try again, led by Graeme Roustan, but since they’d need a billion dollars and a building — the billion is an estimate, but if Vegas goes for half a mil, Toronto’s a bargain at double that — so they’d better come heavy. Other Toronto money will almost certainly line up, too. The Toronto Titans. I will accept royalties.
“We’ll see what turns up in the next few weeks, if there is genuine interest and where it is,” said Bettman, in response to the Toronto question.
Anyone else, have a building and a plan and half a billion bucks, and you might get in the door. Yes, the Arizona Coyotes are burning, but even if they can’t get downtown, the NHL has claimed they lost $150 million on that quicksand mess. Yes, other franchises aren’t healthy, either.
But this is the big-money play; take the cash, and hope you don’t wind up stranded in the desert afterwards. Vegas, baby. And maybe more.